When James is six years old, George has aspirations for him to become a knight, however, his son is terrified of having to learn to kill things and runs away from home. George goes on a public search for his son and enters into a tavern, where he lies about James being kidnapped and implores anyone to come forward if they know his whereabouts. He promises a handsome reward for those who help in locating his son, but cautions that those who withhold information will pay dearly. One of the tavern patrons, actually James' birth father, Robert, tracks down the boy on Pleasure Island and plans to bring him back to his birth family. Upon seeing Robert and James approaching the dock to leave the island, George is elated to see his son and prepares to reward Robert for his help, but Robert refuses and begs the king to let him take James to the home he should have had if the deal with Rumplestiltskin never happened. Realizing the man is James' birth father, George then insults Robert for being wretched enough to sell his own flesh and blood, and even notes that his aged looks must be because of the guilt on his conscience. He tries to change his mind with an offer of money, but when Robert refuses, he has the guards seize him and pays them to kill Robert as well as make his death look accidental. Unknown to George, the guards are later slaughtered by Captain Hook, who kills Robert. ("Murder Most Foul")

Due to George's influence, James grows up to be an arrogant and prideful young man. ("The Shepherd")

Years later, Rumplestiltskin makes a deal with one of King George's neighboring allies, Queen Regina, to cut off relations with the kingdom. This causes King George's kingdom to fall into near bankruptcy. With the state of the crown in such a dire situation, King George storms into James' bedroom at the castle and interrupts a tryst between him and a woman. He informs his son that the coffers of the kingdom are low due to his latest string of dalliances and the treasury cannot hold out much longer. He also informs them of the presence of a giant in the kingdom, and when Jack states she wants a crack at him, George informs her he does not want to use violence just yet. He then hastily sends James to check on the giant, and James later comes back bearing a large amount of treasures stolen from the giants, which is used to lessen the kingdom's debts. ("The Evil Queen", "Tiny")

However, the kingdom once again is in need of gold. To address this problem, King George has his son, Prince James, duel a Behemoth to impress King Midas. After James seemingly kills the man, King George makes a deal with the latter; his son will slay the dragon terrorizing King Midas' kingdom, and King George, in return, will receive gold and other riches. King Midas agrees, turns Prince James' sword into gold as a small payment in advance, and leaves. After King Midas leaves, the prince is killed by the brute who they thought had been killed in the duel. Shortly afterward, King George says goodbye to his son before the body is buried. Though King George begs for Rumplestiltskin to resurrect his son, the latter concedes that not even magic could raise the dead, and instead promises to bring back the deceased prince's twin brother. In exchange, King George gives Rumplestiltskin the whereabouts of his family's patron, a certain Fairy Godmother. The twin, David, is brought to the castle where King George forces him to replace James. David takes on James' identity and successfully kills the dragon and presents its head to King Midas. King Midas, in return, brings forth his daughter and offers her to Prince James in marriage. As the masquerading prince begins rejecting the proposal, King George speaks to him privately and threatens to harm his farm and mother. Because of this, he reluctantly agrees to the marriage and later encounters the exiled princess-turned-thief Snow White. ("The Shepherd")

After meeting Snow White, Prince Charming noticeably begins acting strange, to which King George realizes that he has fallen in love with someone else. He presses for David to do whatever is necessary forget the woman. As a result, Prince Charming writes a letter to Snow White in the hopes she feels the same about him as he does for her. King George catches word of this and captures Snow White when she sneaks into the castle to meet Prince Charming. Though thrown into a dungeon, she escapes and makes her way out until coming to the aide of her dwarf friend Grumpy just after his brother Stealthy is shot to death by the guards. King George brings Snow White inside to demand she reject the prince's feelings or else he will kill him. Snow White is shocked he wants to murder his own son. King George viciously denies that Prince Charming is his son. He allows her to leave the castle once she has done as he asked. ("7:15 A.M.")

As the wedding approaches, Abigail arrives to the kingdom just as King George does his best to hide the fact Prince Charming has run away. He tracks him down at Snow White's newest hideout with Red Riding Hood, and charges forward on horseback with his soldiers with full intentions of killing Prince Charming. ("What Happened to Frederick")

At nightfall, King George and his men catch up to Prince Charming and Red Riding Hood in a clearing. While the prince flees on horseback, Red Riding Hood stays behind to shape shift into a wolf and take out the soldiers. Following this, Prince Charming and Snow White have a brief reunion in the woods which is cut short when King George's men capture him as prisoner sentenced to execution. ("Heart of Darkness")

While the execution is underway, the Evil Queen intervenes on Prince Charming's behalf; offering to purchase his life for all the gold King Midas promised to give King George. He is curious what she has planned for Prince Charming. She promises that it'll be much worse than a simple execution since he'll be leverage for her revenge on Snow White. Pleased with the deal, he allows her to take Prince Charming. At a later time, King George's castle is sieged by the combined forces of Snow White, the seven dwarves, Red Riding Hood, Granny and an army of fairies in an effort to rescue Prince Charming, but he has already been traded to the Evil Queen. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

Despite what the Evil Queen promised, King George learns that Prince Charming has broken free and sends men to search for him to no avail. During this period, King George hires former knight of the Round Table, Lancelot, as his general. Lancelot abducts Snow White, now Prince Charming's fiancée, to the castle. King George orders Lancelot to give her a cup of water, which she later drinks from. He tells Snow White about his past with wife who he fell in love with and married, but she was cursed to never be able to bear children. As revenge, since his attempts to harm Prince Charming fail, he makes Snow White barren from the water she drank. Even Lancelot is shocked at the king's actions, and after Snow White leaves, he renounces his title as general and goes to follow her. Although King George is successful in cursing Snow White, the misfortune is lifted by the waters of Lake Nostos. ("Lady of the Lake")

With the Evil Queen, King George teams up with her to fight against Snow White and Prince Charming's forces. His army is defeated, and shortly after, the Evil Queen is imprisoned. ("The Cricket Game")

If you look closely at the exterior of the Duke of the Frontlands's castle, which Rumplestiltskin breaks into to steal the dagger, you can see the same coat of arms on a flag sitting at the top of a tower.[6] Since these events took place a long time before King George's time, this suggests that the Duke is one of King George's ancestors. ("Desperate Souls")